The biggest trade in baseball this season took place over the weekend, and it had nothing to do with the Rangers.

But it could have a big effect on the team's efforts to keep Josh Hamilton in Texas.

The Boston Red Sox shed more than $250 million in salary obligations Saturday when they dealt 1B Adrian Gonzalez, LF Carl Crawford and RHP Josh Beckett to the Dodgers for prospects. The deal makes Boston weaker in the short-term, but also gives a deep-pocketed franchise plenty of financial flexibility heading into the off-season.

During an interview on WEEI, a sports radio station in Boston, Red Sox GM Ben Cherington hinted that his club could be in on some big-name free agents like Hamilton come winter.

"We’ve got to look at everything and yes, we’ve had several conversations," Cherington said when asked about pursuing Hamilton. "We’ve got some ideas, guys that we think might be available, either through free agency – those are the guys we know will be available – or in trades, guys we think might be available in trades. We started that process earlier. Really right at the deadline we start looking at the off-season, and obviously this trade changes to some extent the types of opportunities we can pursue. And the fact that we gave up a fair amount of offense in this deal and we’ve got to find a way to replace that offense."

The trade with the Dodgers certainly opens up a spot for Hamilton in the Red Sox lineup. In moving Crawford, the Red Sox shipped out the player they had hoped would be their everyday left fielder when they signed him to a 7-year, $142 million contract in 2011. And trading Gonzalez leaves a gaping hole in the middle of Boston's batting order.

Both spots could conceivably be filled by Hamilton, but the former AL MVP wouldn't come cheap. And Cherington, in his first season as Red Sox GM, says his club wants to be careful not to repeat the same sort of wild spending that put Boston in a financial predicament in the first place.

"It’s like getting a big tax refund. You can’t just go spend it in one place or you end up back in the same place you were," Cherington said. "But we have an opportunity now and we have to make the most of it."